1. Field
This disclosure relates to creating images of objects that appear and disappear. In addition, controlling the rate of change that the images of objects appear or disappearance is also disclosed.
2. Background
Special effects designers are sometimes required to make a real image of an object appear and disappear on cue. For example, an amusement park having a haunted mansion may desire to have a true color image of a floating, ghost-like figure mysteriously appear and just as mysteriously disappear.
Projection systems need to reproduce the true color real image of an object. Projection systems use filters to control light that modify the true color real image of an object. Furthermore, many present real projection systems don't smoothly transition a real image of the object from appearing to disappearing. Prior art projection systems employ a projector that projects onto a screen polarization-encoded images. These polarization-encoded images are imperceptible to an observer viewing the screen. Thus, for this system, an analyzer is required by a user to view the image on the screen.
In another real image projection system, a primary image of an object is linearly polarized and made incident upon a mirror. The mirror polarizes the image and reflects light from the primary image. A fraction of this light is reflected by a first beam splitter. The first beam splitter columinates and transmits light through a first quarter wavelength section. Afterwards, the light travels through a second beam splitter, a second quarter wave section, and a second polarizer. The resulting image is viewed by an observer.
Accordingly, the system suffers from many problems such as indiscriminate signal losses due to multiple beam splitting surface not being preferential to any polarization state. Furthermore, multiple beam splitting surfaces introduce stray light and reflections that appear in the real image of the object causing distortion. In addition, the above systems require a very bright illumination source because of the signal losses due to multiple beam splitting paths. Furthermore, presently available real image systems generate changing surrounding background around the real image of the object, thereby ruining the illusion of a freestanding real image of the object. Furthermore, present passive real image projection systems do not provide for a real image of an object to smoothly appear and disappear in response to the movement of an observer. Finally, polarizers in the above real image projection systems may create dimly lit images having a green surrounding background color while producing a real image of the object with a minimum illumination state.
Thus, there is a need for an improved process for making a real image of an object appear and disappear and that providing other advantages over present systems.